hi again all! i'm back with my story of landing. just to backtrack a bit, i was in canada as a visitor before i applied for my outside PR, and i stayed in canada with my common-law the entire time my application was being processed. we didn't have any hitches except when they wanted a common-law declaration from us, which probably added on 3 or 4 weeks to our processing time, even though in the beginning we were told that we didn't need it. should have known better and done it anyways! other than that, everything was pretty smooth. we visited my family for the holidays, and decided to drive to buffalo, get my visa, and land in the same day.
with everyone's advice, i got to the HSBC centre nice and early, around 7:15. you have to wait at the bottom of an escalator for the security guard to come and get you, scan your passport, give you a number, and then they tell you to go to the 30th floor (which is a Canadian maple leaf button in the elevator, as many people have said! it made me smile haha.). there was a guard at the door collecting cell phones. i didn't bring one. they knew i was there for PR right away and i immediately was told to go to a small booth and talk to a lady inside. she was very nice! i gave her my photos (only needed 2, even though it said 3, which was a pain.. had to pay like 10 dollars extra for the third because i did them at CVS, ack), my passport, and the e-mail that they sent me saying i was ready to land, and she said they would try to have me out of there within 2 hours. it was about 7:50 by now and there were probably 10-15 other people there by this time. only one couple was there for an interview for PR, everyone else was there about study or work visas. i read a book for a bit and stared at the clock and my visa was done by 8:40! they gave me a packet of papers to give to the border and said i had until october to land.. who would wait that long?! i drove back to the hotel and napped for a bit lol, then we went off to land!
we landed at the lewiston entry port. the canadian guard seemed a bit grumpy until i told her i was there to land, then she was all smiles and "welcome to canada!"s, haha. we went in and waited while an IO went over the papers and added some more things to my passport. i then went to the other side of the office, gave them my good's to import/follow lists, and they talked me into importing my car right then and there, when i wanted to put it on the goods to follow... huge mistake!! they got everything started, and they told me i had to go back to the american side of the border to export the car, because there could be issues when i cross again. so i turned around to do that... first thing the american border guard asks my girlfriend, "have you ever had any problems entering into the states?"!! like come on, we're literally JUST going across the border. they constantly give her trouble even though the longest she's been in the states has been 4 months and she's never overstayed or anything.. when we went down to FL it was a big fiasco, even when i showed them my PR papers they said "anyone can print this stuff off the internet" and "well you might not pick up your PR, then what?" yeah, i would waste months and thousands of dollars to get my canadian PR and have rights there that gay couples can't have in the states to move back to FL and my girlfriend can just pick oranges for a living.. they always treat us horribly, whether it's because we're gay or because they're all a$$es, i don't know. they also made us leave our small dog in the car for her to go wait in the building while i was doing this, even though it was snowing :/
rant aside, i'm so glad we don't have to deal with them again anytime soon! anyways, i went to export the car and they weren't very kind either, even though i had to wait whole they were helping an older man and they were all sugary sweet to him. they asked if i had imported my car already and i said yes, and they said that it's a $5,000 dollar fine that they should charge me with right then for being so stupid! i was like, slow down buddy, the canadians told me too! which he got all mad about, asking why they didn't ask the americans first. i said i didn't know, and he said he'd reluctantly do it, and when i gave him the title he said it wasn't the original so he wouldn't do it. which is shitty, because the lewiston bridge is apparently the only place that you can export your car in NY, and that's like a 6 hour drive from us. apparently it was okay to import my car with what i had, but not export it.. anyways, we quickly got back into the car and drove back to north america's better half. with no trouble or no questions for the first time ever! just "canadian, american with canadian permanent residence" "okay, have a beautiful day!" it was amazing. i got my SIN number the next day, and am going to go get my driver's license today. sorry for my story being so long (and kind of negative, boo!), and i hope everyone else's PR's come soon, especially yours dralon.. the wait will be worth it once it comes!
Other than that, totally enjoying being pseudo Canadian. In three years or so I'll be going for my citizenship. Good luck to all still waiting.
